We are happy to feature this post by Coach Daniel Heller, a regular contributor here at coachdjtaylor.com. We’re excited to share his knowledge and skills with our readers! Please read more about Coach Daniel below. You can also connect with him on Instagram at @coach_danielh.

We welcome submissions from other coaches who would like to be guest contributors. All guest contributors must hold certification from NSCA, CSCCa, or NASM. Five or more years of professional experience is preferred. Please send all submissions to dj@coachdjtaylor.com and include a reference sheet, a bio, and a photo. We will let you know as quickly as possible if your submission will be published.

Here are my two cents on certifications:

Certifications are important. And they're not all created equal. When looking at certain job descriptions out there, it is clear that some are required more than others. 

If we look at some of the current military job positions for strength and conditioning coaches, they’re requiring National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) or Strength and Conditioning Coach Certification (SCCC) through Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA). However, the NSCA does offer the Tactical Strength and Conditioning Facilitator certification (TSAC-F).

This makes sense considering this is the only one of the three listed that does not require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. But is the bachelor’s degree the limiting factor here? The American College Sports Medicine (ACSM) has specific certifications that are not accepted by these military positions even though they require a minimum of a four-year degree in exercise science, physiology, or kinesiology. Could this have something to do with the target population of the ACSM which is more catered towards the clinical side of the exercise professional spectrum? Another highly recognized certification body, National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), does not have a certification that is accepted for these current military strength and conditioning coach positions. Explore their sites. What makes each of these different? Why are some accepted while others aren’t, even if they require a four-year degree? 

Whatever certification we’re considering or preparing for, it is important to know why we want it, what it will do for our current or future positions and responsibilities. Not only that, but it is important to look at what it's going to take to keep them. If you have five different certifications that all require a certain level of continuing education units (CEU’s), are you willing to do the work to maintain all five of those? And are all five of those giving you a different scope of practice? It is okay to sit for some with the knowledge that you are not going to maintain them. So, you're doing it for professional development and there is nothing wrong with that.

It’s also important to know the differences in the hierarchy of certifications within an association. For example, there are four primary certifications within the NSCA: CSCS, Certified Personal Trainer (NSCA-CPT), Certified Special Population Specialist (CSPS), and TSAC-F. The ACSM focuses on a different population than the NSCA as we can see by the certification offerings. Each one of these provides a different scope of practice with only very little overlap. Compare the NSCA CSPS to the ACSM Clinical Exercise Physiologist (CEP). Each one of these provides a different scope of practice with subtle overlaps.

Neither of these associations tell the practitioner how to provide or deliver their services, because these are not programs. This puts the responsibility of writing and delivering the programs in the practitioner's hands.

Certain certifications will give you the templates on how to write a program, what exercises to prescribe, how to prescribe them. You're being certified in a program, not in a field of expertise or scope of practice. It’s good to know the difference. For example, NASM has their Strength and Conditioning Bundle that takes the student through their phases of certifications from personal trainer to Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES) and Performance Exercise Specialist (PES) using their specific models of programing. This program is called the Optimum Performance Training Model.

Is the program that you're being certified in aiding and supporting your field of expertise? For example, CSCS and a Functional Movement Screen certification (FMS). For the FMS there is a specific continuum (model) for how we administer the screen, the exercise prescription, and exercises recommended by FMS System. This becomes a tool we can use to get athletes (clients) off to a good start. Giving us the opportunity to fill the objective data portion of our SOAP notes.

Now I’m going to come full circle back to my thoughts on certification. I believe certifications are important. I encourage you to have one primary that guides your base knowledge. That guides your expertise. That guides you as a practitioner. For me, it is my CSCS. I'm proud of it. I maintain it. I'm proud of the association I belong to and being on the Washington State Board for the NSCA. All the others support my scope of practice the CSCS affords me. My energy goes into being a strength and conditioning coach. Yes, I'm a USA Cycling Coach level 2, USA Hockey coach level 4, and Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach (RSCC). My energy is directed at maintaining my CSCS.

Where do you want to put your energy? What do you want your scope of practice to be? Let those questions be the guide to choosing the right certification for you. What certification do you have in mind? What certification do you have your eye on? Are you on the right track? Do you need any guidance? Do you need a wall to bounce ideas and thoughts off? We are here for each other. Let's continue this conversation.

Daniel Heller is an adventure enthusiast with a passion for performance that he brings to everyday. If you have the chance to see him on a trail in the Pacific Northwest you’ll be sure to be greeted with a smile and a huge hello. The mountains are his happy place and you’ll know it by his exuberant presence.

The uniqueness of his upbringing has naturally formed his fusion of art and science in his practice of coaching and consulting. With an inquisitive approach to working with people he gives them the space to find their own way while never allowing them to stray too far off the beaten path. Being there to guide them back by retracing their steps to learn from their experience.

Daniel also enjoys photography, so he’s providing all of images for his posts on coachdjtaylor.com. We’re so glad to feature his words and images here!

You can learn more about Coach Daniel and his work at www.DanielJHeller.com and feel free to contact him at Daniel@Ironwood-Fitness.com and on Instagram at @coach_danielh.

Daniel Heller, MSc, CSCS,*D, RSCC
Strength & Conditioning Coach
Ironwood Health & Fitness LLC
USA Hockey Level 4 Coach
USA Cycling Level 2 Coach
PMBIA Level 1 Instructor
FMS Level 1 & 2